Good Is Dead: Do You See?

I have a confession to make: I love words. But I love pictures more. 

I live to paint, take photographs, and draw. So when it comes to books, I'm a sucker for great illustration.


I'll never forget my first time reading Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. This book blew me away--brought me to tears, actually--but Foer's masterful use of illustration was just icing on the cake.

From altered text to eclectic-yet-meaningful images, Foer's illustrations reveal snapshots of Oskar's tortured consciousness. Images,  more than words, make the protagonist accessible to the reader.


So, I was also really pumped when a good friend sent me Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Scanning the pages, I discovered Haddon had jumped on the graphic-storytelling bandwagon as well. Huzzah!

The novel's leading man, Christopher, an autistic fifteen-year-old boy, is determined to solve the mystery of a neighborhood dog's death. Christopher is different from other people. Although warmhearted, he thinks in a very cold, methodical manner.

Haddon capitalizes on illustrations to depict the inner workings of Christopher's mind--from the way he maps out his neighborhood to his visual categorization system for human emotions, Haddon's illustrations make Christopher a more raw and relatable character.

I finished the book The Cheese Monkeys: A Novel in Two Semesters a few days ago too. This quirky art school memoir was authored by Chip Kidd, a graphic artist famous for his book jacket designs. So naturally, The Cheese Monkeys was laced with fresh illustrations as well.

I couldn't get over what Kidd did (that rhymes...) with the outside of the pages. By bending the book back and forth, two phrases are revealed: "Good Is Dead" and "Do You See?" two catchphrases of Kidd's eccentric graphic design instructor. How cool!                                                                              









Kidd utilizes illustration to convey humor as well. Upon opening the book, readers are graced with a clever artwork caption: "The inside front cover was intentionally left blank. It's not a mistake. It's actually a separate "piece," entitled "BUDGETARY CONSTRAINT NO. 13."

It seems like storytelling through illustrations is becoming a new trend. I can't wait so see where this new genre goes.